Why is something so seemingly simple have to be so hard?

First... let me preface this request by saying that the LF wheel of my F-type (MY21 AWD) seems to have a fetish for seeking out new ways to punish(?) me by viciously puncturing the tire. Suffice it to say that I have, IMHO, far more than my share of experiences with having the car towed.

Aside from the fact that my car always seems to win the local "Best Car Towed This Week" contest among the drivers (they don't count Tesla's any more, as each of them tow two or three every week), there's this entertaining (to a point) pantomime that I've always had to go through with each driver. It's called, "How to put the car in neutral with the brake off?".

As any right-minded F-type owner should do, I always insist on a flat-bed tow truck (a best practice for any decent car even if not AWD). As such, towing involves tilting the truck's bed down, hooking the hoist to the front tow hook (no worries there) and engaging the hoist to pull up the car on the bed before leveling it and securing the load.

Hence the need for releasing the parking brake and setting the transmission into neutral.

Still... try as I may - with the everchanging suggestions from the driver, accompanied by a constant series of loud alarms from the car about "your transmission is in neutral" and "there's something very close ahead of you" - I have yet to find the proper sequence of adjustments to the gearshift, Start/Stop button, EPB switch, brake pedal, significant pauses, talismans, and/or incantations that accommodates this.

Instead, each time, within seconds of when I shut off the engine, the $#+@$ "PARK" lights up joyously in bright red !!!

Inevitably, the solution winds up having to roll down (wow! there's an ancient term) the window and leave the motor running with key in car while the driver hoists or lowers the car from the tilt bed.

Does anyone have a sure-fire, every-damn-time method to leave the car with the engine and parking brake off with the transmission in neutral? I've run out of ideas (and curses).

My thanks...

 

My concern prior to this posting was how to tow the car up the flat bed ramp without damaging the low front or rear ends.
The angle always looks too steep for a low slung vehicles.

 

My experience has been that the drivers always carry a few 2x4's or 2x'6's. When raising, as the front tires near the edge of the bed, the boards are placed ahead of the tires, which lifts the front end and decreases the angle. Always seems to have worked for this car and previous low-slung cars. No scratches or scrapes (or cause for complaint/lawsuit?).

Lowering, I'm not sure exactly what is going on, as the drivers usually put me in the car (I do have to start it to release the brake and set the gear). But, I still see them using the boards.

Also, I'm not sure I'd consider hoisting it by the rear end. The rear hook is not meant for towing, only for tie downs.

 

Fortunately, I have only had a single instance of my F-Type requiring a tow. In my case, the car was able to run (although leaking coolant thanks to a Y-pipe) so I sat in the car with the engine running, transmission in neutral, and steered it onto the flatbed while the tow driver winched the car up into position. Once the car was on the flatbed, I shut off the engine and hopped out. Not sure all tow drivers will be so accommodating, but that worked for me. If the car isn't capable of running, then I think the only option is to use the release under the center console to put the car in neutral.

 

And don't forget to set Transport Mode if you're under InControl control.

 

The flatbed guy let me drive it up onto the bed. He was super nice, gave him a tip. Also my car is on Eibach springs and it didn't scrape at all.

 

Not sure if yours is the same but I saw this on YouTube for a MY 2014.

 

Your Owner’s Handbook should have a section showing how to manually move the transmission out of P for vehicle recovery. Unless you have the first edition of the handbook from 2013 (as I do), where they forgot it (and other things.)

Here it is…
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6suo2gqn9l...lease.pdf?dl=0

 

Yep, that's the way to do it.

The black little cover can be a real b'*ch to get off though because it's fastened with some unnecessarily stiff clips. You have to pry it loose with something so it's good to prep it so you don't run into trouble if you ever need to remove it. I've removed a clip or two from mine so it sits loosely and can be removed easily like in that video and I keep a suitable short flat head screwdriver in the car to be able to turn the release mechanism if ever needed.

 

Boards are the answer.